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A Pitcairn islander convicted of historic sex crimes can expect to learn in several weeks if his appeal against his conviction and sentence is successful.
The Pitcairn Court of Appeal reserved its decision today on an appeal by Randall Kay Christian, who is serving six years for sexual offences, including rape and one count of indecently assaulting a girl under the age of 13.
The court sat in the High Court at Auckland after Parliament passed a special act allowing it to do so.
Christian was convicted in 2004 after he was charged jointly with his brother, Shawn Brent Christian, in relation to the rape of a girl.
Randall Christian was one of several men facing historic sex charges, some of which dated back more than 30 years.
Some of the offenders lived on the island, some in New Zealand and some in Australia.
The sentences ranged from six years' jail to 250 hours' community work.
Pitcairn, the home of Fletcher Christian and his band of mutineers who took over the armed British ship Bounty in 1789 and set Captain William Bligh adrift in a small ship's boat, is halfway between New Zealand and Chile.
It is one of the most remote settled places on earth with no airstrip, and access only by sea, either from a passing tourist ship or a chartered vessel.
It is British territory but when the islanders were convicted of sex offences they argued the British had no legal standing because British law did not apply. The Privy Council rejected that argument.
- NZPA
